I honestly don't care about the MP count but the actual performance of the sensor. Most likely this is the same sensor as the past 3-4 years, which is just a kick to the groin for anyone with any faith left in Canon. There is a slim chance that this is indeed a completely new sensor and just uses the same MP count but really, how likely is it Canon not change the MP count at all? Not much, I think, especially from a marketing perspective. If on the off chance, that this is a new sensor, with improvements in DR and noise, I am in but at this point, I think it is just wishful thinking.

I think this "new" thing is just a marketing bluff. They will probably take the same 18MP sensor, remove the AA filter and call it done. It might increase sharpness and details, but it won't improve dynamic range.

I honestly don't care about the MP count but the actual performance of the sensor. Most likely this is the same sensor as the past 3-4 years, which is just a kick to the groin for anyone with any faith left in Canon. There is a slim chance that this is indeed a completely new sensor and just uses the same MP count but really, how likely is it Canon not change the MP count at all? Not much, I think, especially from a marketing perspective. If on the off chance, that this is a new sensor, with improvements in DR and noise, I am in but at this point, I think it is just wishful thinking.

What do you guys think?

If the MP count has not changed then the underlying technology behind the pixels/sensor has not changed. i.e. there will be no DR/noise improvements over the 60D.

I hope is actually a new sensor and not more on chip auto focus spots and a stronger AA filter for video that will just rob more IQ from an already dated sensor.

Spot on. Canon would do themselves good to follow in Pentax's footsteps, offer an AA-less camera that's basically for stills only, and destroy the "video" option on the mode dial with an obviously outdated terrible interface and frustrating experience so that nobody ever uses it. "It's there, but don't bother" kind of thing. Better yet, cut live-view and video out entirely and make a stills-only high-res AA-less gem like in the good old days of low-ASA Velvia and sh¡t. No other consumer SLR could touch it.But Canon just keeps hacking the video in all their new cameras. All the new features are for video. I remember seeing a poll in Shutterbug or Popular Photography last year saying less than a third of the people who make videos in life make them with their SLRs rather than their smartphones. Canon is crippling their stills shooters across the entire lineup of cameras to gain a little on soon-to-be-outdated 1080p super-downsampled video-res-optimized sensors. Keep the 1D-Cs and Vixias separate from the high-end EOS SLRs, mixing the two is killing us. Rather than upgrading, I'll just remove the AA filter from my T2i for $400 and end up with the same dynamic range, same resolution, but better sharpness and upscale-ability than any of the newer 18mp sensors.

........................The EF 00-400 f/4L IS 1.4x is becoming a running joke with folks at Canon, I don’t think any one really knows why it hasn’t been officially announced yet.

I would say it IS already a running joke. I really wonder why Canon is following such strategy towards its customers. Making announcements long before release of a product and then postpone the actual release and availibility.